MyHospitals report reveals North Coast still failing patients

Jessica Grewal
Senior Reporter APN Newsdesk NSW Bureau
Working from Sydney, Jessica specialises in crime/court reporting, filing for APN’s regional mastheads in Northern NSW as well as providing national content for the group.
She was previously Chief Reporter at the Fraser Coast Chronicle in Hervey Bay, Queensland where she grew up and trained.
Early in her career, she was named Queensland Young Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards.
More recently, she was finalist at the 2013 Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism in both the...

PATIENTS at NSW North Coast hospitals are still waiting too long in congested emergency departments, a MyHospitals report has revealed.

In the latest audit, only one hospital - Tweed - was meeting the NSW target of 76% of all patients to leave emergency departments within four hours of arrival by the end of 2013.

Grafton was sitting at 61% and Coffs Harbour at 55%.

Turn-around rates at Lismore Hospital were down to 47%.

At December last year, Lismore was the only hospital on the North Coast to experience a jump in waiting times.

Northern NSW Local Health District chief said the negative results were largely due to the cramped emergency department which would be significantly improved when the upgrade was completed in early 2014.

Only nine regional hospitals in the state are currently meeting the target.